Brent prepares for Bickenhill battle

The GLA campaign highlights Bickenhill's lack of heritage

By BBC Sport Online's Piers Newbery

If Wembley is still the strong favourite to host the new national stadium, nobody seems to have told Brent Council.

With Patrick Carter due to hand his report into the on-going saga to the Government at any time, the case for Wembley is being made yet again.

Brent Council called on Sir Geoff Hurst to display his magic touch at the old stadium one more time as the World Cup winner gave his support to the Venue of Legends last Wednesday.

Both the Football Association and the government have made it clear that, although it remains in a strong position, Wembley is no longer their preferred option.

Moving the national stadium to Birmingham and Coventry would be like throwing away all the magic of Wembley

Sir Geoff Hurst

Anything is now possible, despite Wembley winning a bidding process five years ago.

With the government expected to make its decision in late September, the Londoners have felt it necessary to highlight what they consider to be the shortcomings in their closest rival's bid.

Bickhenhill near Birmingham can boast the transport links that serve the nearby National Exhibition Centre, and the idea of an 85,000-seater national stadium in the Midlands is attractive to many fans living north of the capital.

A special meeting of Solihull Borough Council on 4 September will decide how to take the project forward.

The Greater London Authority has reacted by launching a campaign - It's got to be Wembley - with a poster aimed at illustrating Bickenhill's obvious lack of heritage.

And the MP for Brent North has described the idea of taking the project away from Wembley at this stage as "absolute insanity".

Standing alongside Hurst in the Brent Council chambers, Barry Gardiner MP likened the Wembley situation to that of the Longbridge car plant last year.

Sir Geoff Hurst does his bit for Brent

Making it very clear that he backed the government's moves to save jobs at Longbridge, Gardiner called on the Midlands to return the favour.

"The same focus, the same energy and the same determination must go in now to making sure that the jobs we could lose here in Wembley are not lost," said Gardiner.

But it was the image of Hurst standing in front of the Twin Towers for the umpteenth time that made the biggest impression.

"Moving the national stadium to Birmingham and Coventry would be like throwing away the magic brand name and all the magic of Wembley," said Hurst.

The stadium is in considerable disrepair after nearly a year of neglect and looks eager to welcome the bulldozers.

"Magic" felt in short supply on a windswept weekday afternoon but in reality little had changed since Wembley was hosting major matches.

Apart from a few barriers, missing windows and some crumbling brickwork, the air of desolation felt extremely familiar.

Much will need to be done, from Wembley Park tube station to the stadium itself, to make it feel like a world-class facility, and the case for urban regeneration is possibly Brent Council's strongest card.